24 Apple Cider Cupcakes

So handbell season has started up again, and the choir needed some cupcakes. I got this new recipe book for Christmas so I flipped through the pages to pick just the right cupcakes to bring to my good little ringers. I narrowed it down to a couple choices but when it came down to it I chose this one. They're easy enough, because they use a box mix and only a few other ingredients. Perfect for something quick to whip up.

The only ingredients I needed for these cupcakes were the spice cake mix and the apple cider. They sell the small jugs (which is what I wanted to get, but the store I went to didn't have any) of apple cider and since you only need about 2 cups of it, this size would be perfect. If you like apple cider, go right ahead and buy a half gallon and enjoy the left overs.

When I mixed the batter it was really easy. Another case of just following simple directions. We had some left over chopped walnuts. Just throw them in the food processor and they're perfect. There wasn't 2 cups of walnuts, but it was close enough. I split all the batter between 24 cupcakes and put them in the oven for 20 minutes and they came out perfectly.

The icing was easy too. I'm not sure if the butter wasn't softened enough or what happened, but the butter never really mixed with the cider to what I would consider to be "blended" like the recipe says. I just mixed it for a while, and then slowly added the powdered sugar. I piped it onto the cupcakes in a zigzag and that was that. All done! Since I ran out of walnuts, I didn't garnish them. Apple chips would make a good garnish too if you make them without the nuts.

Not very blended icing

Everybody loved these cupcakes. I heard there were fights for bites of these cupcakes. People who brought them home from handbell practice missed out on their last bites to a family member or had to wrench them out of the hands of a cupcake hungry spouse. The cake was nice and moist. The finely crushed up walnuts are all throughout the cake. You can taste the nuts in every bite. Finally, the cider in the icing and the cupcakes was emphasized by the spices in the cake mix. All the flavor of a great cupcake and only about a quarter of the work. Some times I hate to do it, but you can occasionally get away with using a boxed cake mix.

Apple Cider Cupcake Ingredients
1 package (about 18 oz) spice cake mix
1 1/4 c apple cider
1/3 c vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 c coarsely chopped walnuts, plus additional for garnish

Cupcake How to
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 standard (2 1/2 in) muffin cups with paper baking cups.
2. Beat cake mix, apple cider, oil and eggs in medium bowl with electric mixer at low speed until blended; beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in 2 cups chopped walnuts. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
4. Prepare Apple Cider Frosting; frost cupcakes. Garnish with additional chopped walnuts.

Apple Cider Frosting Ingredients and How to
Beat 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter and 1/4 cup apple cider in medium bowl with electric mixer at low speed until well blended. Gradually beat in 4 cups powdered sugar until smooth. Makes about 3 cups.


from the Cupcake Bible